What was the most culturally scariest/or odd experience for you and how did you overcome it?
Soon after we arrived at our ministry site in India, our contact asked to meet with all of us and explained that law enforcement officials were aware of our arrival. They were already suspicious about why a large group of Americans were roaming around the area [Christians are not welcome]. Our contact asked us not to walk in large groups around town and to stay indoors as much as possible.
There were also uprisings going on around the area [something to do with protest against government]. A few of the women from my team and another team ended up having to basically walk through a riot to get back to the house. I had never experienced anything like this on the Race [and thankfully we role-played scenarios like this at launch, to help us prepare for how we would respond]. Sometime later in the month, our contact sent out a text to our all-girls teams who were staying at the mission house, to warn us that a couple of officials would be coming to our house shortly to ask us some questions [we had no idea what would happen if they knew we were there to spread the gospel]. That was definitely a little nerve wracking. We prayed, and thankfully, the officials never showed up.
Time you felt most useless in ministry?
Pretty much anytime we had excessive amounts of wifi. Even if we had a ton of ministry to do in a month, if we had wifi in the same month, I noticed that my heart wouldn’t be as invested in the ministry because half of my heart would be thinking of friends and family and wanting to see their latest pics, FB statuses, etc.. It was especially difficult in Laos [month 7]. Our team was doing ‘Unsung Heroes’ in which we spend the entire month networking to find new contacts to partner with AIM. We found one solid contact who we got to spend a week with [it was awesome, they lived next to a Buddhist monastery!]. But all the other days we were posted up in a hostel with wifi, and you can only do so much networking in a day before you’re over it. The extra down time definitely caused for attitudes to get down and for homesickness to creep up.
Time you felt most valuable in ministry?
‘Doing life’ with team mates 24/7 causes for a lot of these times. Personally I got gratification out of serving and loving on team mates more than anything else. For me it wasn’t about the picturesque moments of holding a cute wittle baby [although I’ll admit, I enjoyed that too]. It was more about the random conversations that popped up while preparing a meal or sitting in a tuk tuk, or the night-talk next to your hut buddy [Canada;] in Thailand, that turned into awesome holy spirit filled moments. Those moments often consisted of encouragement, life speaking, prayers, tears, laughter, etc. On the Race, my heart was most heavy laden with joy and pain for ma homegirls, who I got to build the deepest relationships with of all on the mission field.
What is the biggest spiritual blessing you encountered? Was there a time/times your faith was tested farther than before?
Anyone who knows me pretty well — or even if you don’t, it’s allllll I blogged about — knows my biggest hesitation with the Race was that I would probably want to run myself off a cliff from being around people so much and not ever getting alone time. I will be straight up and say there were moments where I would get frustrated that I couldn’t just get away.. just have a day all to myself. But, honestly these frustrations didn’t happen often. God literally placed a lightheartedness, an ease, in me that I didn’t have before. Community didn’t get to the point of feeling overwhelming to me, ever. That is the miracle I witnessed on my Race! [Doesn’t mean I didn’t ever steal away to my earphones or that I don’t want my alone time now.. I’m eating it up! Haha]
Funniest moment on the Race?
People on our Race probably get tired of hearing this, but my die-hard funniest moment was when me and Katelyn went to get our hairs cut in Nepal. First of all, women don’t cut their hair in Nepal. Most of them have really long hair [no one has the bob like us] and there are few hair salons, but PLENTY of barber shops just for men. We would’ve been better off going there.. I’m serious.
But we found a ‘salon’ in which the owner insisted that his employee [a really timid nervous looking girl] could cut and style our hair. To get to the point, I ended up with a bald patch on the side of my head [luckily it was freezing that month anyway so I could hide it]. At one point, the woman hands her scissors to Katelyn and runs out of the room [KATELYN, who has never cut hair before, was trimming my hair at a salon]. We’re hysterical with laughter/tears at this point. They end up calling a man from a barber shop down the street to come finish the job. He did a little happy dance jig while he cut my hair with his worn rusty shears.. and didn’t do too bad of a job, considering what just happened.
Right before the haircut. Oh, and this guy..
After 20 mins, he hopped off his bike and had to push us down the street with all his body weight. He couldn’t find the REAL salon we were looking for so we had to get off and walk.. poor guy.
Couple weeks after the ‘experience.’ Some of ma hurrrs grew back.
What would you say about the fast pace, so many countries, and jet lag?
Wellllll, make sure all your technology is fully charged when you’re going to travel long distances, make sure the stuff you’ll need in your daypack is easily accessible [wet wipes, sleeping mask, etc], and just settle in. Expect that things wont go smoothly often, and you will be less disappointed when they don’t.. and overjoyed when they do!
Also, all of the constant change and “hurry up and wait’s” on the Race provided for larger life lesson opportunities.. it is comparable to lessons learned from really challenging battles we go through in everyday life.. that nothing has to be a big deal anymore. I don’t mean that hard things we go through aren’t important or aren’t a big deal in the moment.. my overall heart behind that statement is that I don’t want to give something or someone so much weight and power, that if it [or he or she] doesn’t go the way I plan, I’ll be crushed. God’s heart for us is to live in freedom! It might take daily surrender and trust, but it is available.
What was the strangest food you ate and did not eat?
Cockroach, snake, grasshoppers, and a whole turantula. Cambodians eat those things like they’re an all-day, errday, snack! Believe it or not, I would eat three more turantula’s before I’d eat one more cockroach. Yuck. Some people tried duck fetuses too, but I never got around to that.
Oh, and I tried this candy made of a fruit called durian [in the Philippines]. Durian looks like a huge spikey football.. and it taste just like it smells. People across the world will try to convince you its fabulous #youvebeenwarned
Would you do the World Race again?
Would I do the World Race I just did, all over again? Maybe not. I can say the World Race was AMAZING and I left changed for the better, but it is like other experiences that shape us: we cherish the great moments and people, and know that the hard stuff refined us.. but we [or at least I] wouldn’t willingly put myself through the same exact challenges all over again. Not when God already brought me through it. I wanna be excited about where He has me and look forward to wherever He wants to take me next!
Would I go on a different Race again? Not now, but maybe someday! I’m excited for one of my good friends to listen to God’s call and go back out on the field and squad lead in September[!], but as for me God has put it on my heart to be stationary and state-side for a while [still wanna travel short-term though!]. And who knows if the Race will pop back up on my radar in the future!
